This invention relates to feeding a wire strip of solder to a work station. More particularly, this invention is directed to devices which may be manually actuated to advance a wire or solder during a brazing or soldering operation and especially to devices which may be operated by one hand. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
The well-known practical problem associated with the process of soldering lies in coordinating the tasks of holding the workpiece or workpieces, holding and controlling the soldering implement, and locating and advancing the strip or wire of soldering material. A number of tools have been proposed for addressing the problem of eliminating the necessity of performing one or more of the aforementioned tasks manually involved in the soldering process. Exemplary of such proposed tools are devices wherein various mechanisms for feeding of the solder wire have been adapted for attachment to the soldering implement for manual actuation in conjunction with the operation of the soldering implement. For example, U.S. Pat. No., 4,330,075 discloses a soldering tool with a solder feeder mechanism comprising a manually operated member, which is depressable towards the handle of the soldering tool, and a slide which is displacable in one direction against spring bias by depression of the manually operated member. The slide has a driving dog for displacement of the solder ribbon together with the slide to thereby advance the solder towards the tip of the heating element of the soldering implement. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,137, a solder feeder apparatus is disclosed wherein a selective feed of the solder to the heated tip can be accomplished with the same hand that holds the soldering implement. A double-acting slide mechanism feeds the solder forwardly upon actuation of a trigger in the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,137.
The feeder device of the present invention is a hand-held device which is manually actuable to advance a wire or ribbon, for example a strip of solder, in an efficient and reliable manner so that during a brazing or soldering process the operator can concentrate on the task to be performed with minimal attention to the process of advancing the bonding material.